Okay, I have to be honest. I know the Spurs are good; they have veterans and have lots of depth that come off their bench. However, I did not expect them to be playing this well so far into the season. Wednesday night they matched up against the stumbling Houston Rockets, who entered the game 3-6 and 1-6 on the road. The Spurs entered the game sitting on a perfect 6-0 record at home and a 6-4 record overall. It took an overtime period but San Antonio was able to hold off one of their in-state rivals, winning 101-95.

Tony Parker was phenomenal and played strong on offense and defense. With Manu Ginobili still out with his hurt hand it took a fiery guard to make sure the Spurs did not drop their third game in a row. Parker compiled 28 points, five rebounds, eight assists and one steal. He also had four clutch free throws in OT to give the Spurs the W, while shooting 12-22 for the game. I wouldn’t say Houston was out played; they had several players contribute strong efforts, including Kyle Lowry’s 22 points, Luis Scola’s 20, Kevin Martin’s 18 and Patrick Patterson’s 10. Statistically, this game was as close as it could have been. San Antiono made one more shot than the Rockets and both teams had 11 turnovers. The difference came in the defense, as San Antonio had nine blocks to Houston’s four.

The victory was the seventh in a row at home for the Spurs, who have not started this well at home since they opened the 2007-2008 season with 13 straight wins in the AT&T Center. Next up, the Spurs face a tough Portland Trailblazers team who has surprised several people so far this season with their dominating play and (prior to the Orlando Magic game) 7-2 record. We can expect a high scoring game out of these two teams; both rank in the top seven in the league for points scored per game. Tim Duncan’s performance has still seemed subpar so far into the season. He is making $21 million this year yet is only averaging 11 points and five rebounds a game, way down from his career average of 20 and 11. Sure, he is getting older, but in a year with several rising Western Conference teams (i.e. Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers), Duncan needs to step up his game, and fast, if he wants to keep his Spurs in the playoff hunt. If he keeps this low scoring and rebounding trend going, he may have a hard time getting voted into the All-Star game…would YOU vote for him?